Aircraft with detachable passenger escape cabin

ABSTRACT

Aircraft  5  with a detachable passenger escape cabin  1  comprising detachable piloting systems, namely the center pedestal  3 b, the control stick  1 k, the pedals  1 r as well as the upright sliding bars  1 v,  1 v′, and  1 t,  1 t′ between cabin  1  and opening  3  of aircraft  5  for an easy and rapid disengagement of cabin  1  from fuselage  4.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to the field of the art of aircraft with emergencyequipment and more specifically it relates to an aircraft comprising adetachable passenger escape cabin mounted onto the fuselage of theaircraft.

2. Description of Related Art

An aircraft with a detachable passenger escape cabin is known fromgranted Patents GR-1003755, EP-1,280,699, U.S. Pat. No. 6,682,017.

It is an object of the present invention to supplement theaforementioned granted patents with the presentation of the rapidsliding and the detachment of the center pedestal from the cabin bearingthe throttle control lever, compensation lever, propeller pitch leverand other levers interacting with the respective control sticks in theaircraft.

It is a further object of the present invention to disclose means forthe rapid detachment of the control stick and pedestals from thefuselage and the function of the sliding bars for the facilitation ofthe fast detachment of the cabin during its vertical, upward separationfrom the fuselage of the aircraft, which then falls to Earth, wherebythe cabin being detached is released from all the controls andmechanisms connected to it during the piloting of the Aircraft.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In an aircraft with a detachable passenger escape cabin, the inventionproposes a mode of connection of the cabin to the fuselage of theaircraft through a system of upright, vertically aligned sliding barscooperatively attached to said cabin and said fuselage, a centerpedestal fixedly mounted to a structural frame of said aircraft insidean opening in the fuselage thereof and extending within the detachablecabin, said center pedestal being capable to move vertically downwardstogether with the aircraft fuselage as the cabin is detached, said cabinand the fuselage of said aircraft further comprising a detachablecontrol stick system and a separable crankshaft system for thedetachment of pedals, wherein when emergency cabin detachment conditionsarise, the cabin moves in alignment with said fuselage and all openingsin the floor of the cabin adapted to provide for connection of saidcenter pedestal, detachable control stick system and separablecrankshaft system for the detachment of pedals are closed inhibitinginflux of water when the cabin eventually crashes onto the sea.

These and other advantages and characteristics of the present inventionwill be included in the herein below detailed description of preferredembodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A illustrates a perspective view of the escape cabin detached fromthe aircraft with openings provided on the floor of the cabin for theinsertion of the center pedestal, control stick, pedals, the cabin beingprovided with upright sliding bars on the front and rear thereof, andthe fuselage of the aircraft with the fixedly mounted center pedestaland corresponding sliding bars on the respective front and rear thereofwithin the opening of the fuselage.

FIG. 1B illustrates a perspective view of a portion of the cockpit withthe two openings on the floor where the center pedestal and the controlstick will be inserted respectively.

FIG. 1C illustrates a perspective view of a portion of the floor of thecockpit where the opening for the insertion of the center pedestal hasbeen formed, with a rectangular elevated wall protecting from the influxof water being provided circumferentially around it, as well as a lidequipped with springs being attached longitudinally across the elevatedwall.

FIG. 1D illustrates a perspective view of the portion of the floor ofprevious FIG. 1C fixedly mounted onto structural members of the fuselagewith the center pedestal being inserted through the lower portion of theopening formed onto the floor of the cockpit.

FIG. 1E illustrates a perspective view of a portion of the floor of thecockpit of FIG. 1B after an upper bar of the control stick system hasbeen inserted through the opening formed onto the floor of the cockpitand its detailed connection with the lower bar of the control sticksystem which is fixedly mounted onto a structural member of thefuselage.

FIG. 2A illustrates a perspective view of the separable control stick,disassembled and comprising two separate bars.

FIG. 2B illustrates a perspective view of a detail in the constructionof the matching ends of the two bars of the separable control stickshown in previous FIG. 2A.

FIG. 2C illustrates a perspective view of a detail in the connection ofthe two bars of the separable control stick, with a sectional view atthe point of the matching ends of the two bars shown in previous FIGS.2A, 2B.

FIG. 3A illustrates a perspective view of the pedals in the cockpit,connected with the separable crankshaft by push-pull bars.

FIG. 3B illustrates a perspective view of the separable crankshaft ofprevious FIG. 3A disassembled and with a detail of its construction.

FIG. 4A illustrates a perspective view of the two upright sliding barsof U Normal Profile section, one detached from the other.

FIG. 4B illustrates a perspective view of the sliding bars of previousFIG. 4A, the bars shown in assembled condition and with a detail oftheir function during sliding.

FIG. 4C illustrates a perspective view of the escape cabin with one ofthe sliding bars of FIG. 4A attached onto the exterior front portion ofthe cockpit, while the other bar is attached onto the respective rearportion being shown with discontinuous lines.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

With reference to the accompanying drawings, we will hereinafterdescribe preferred embodiments of the invention.

According to the embodiment shown in FIG. 1A, the detachable cabin 1 isillustrated with a through rectangular opening 1 e extendinglongitudinally across the floor 1 f of cabin 1 between the seats of thepilot and co-pilot as shown in FIG. 1B, inside the cockpit 11.

As it can be distinguished in FIGS. 1C, 1D, an elevated protective wall1 g extends circumferentially around the shaped opening 1 e, whosepurpose is to prevent water from entering from the external lowerportion of floor 1 f through opening 1 e and, successively from reachingcabin 1, when it crashes onto the sea.

This is regarded as a supplementary safety precaution as cabin 1 will bewaterproof, with autonomous flotation and also with the supplementaryaid of inflatable airbags.

Wall 1 g will be higher than sea level when cabin 1 is floating.However, for extra safety a lid 1 h will be mounted longitudinallyacross the elevated wall 1 g, which will close automatically with theuse of springs 1 i and seal wall 1 g when necessary and after pedestal 3b is detached. The function of lid 1 h is also based on the springswhose purpose is to rotate lid 1 h until it seals wall 1 g internally.When pedestal 3 b is inside opening 1 e and surrounded by wall 1 g, lid1 h is located between them in a downward angle and is under the strainof springs 1 i, its surface coming into matching contact with the sideof pedestal 3 b which, when detached from opening 1 e, allows springs 1i to automatically push lid 1 h upwards until it reaches the top of wall1 g where it seals tight on the internal portion of wall 1 g, not beingable to move further or exit wall 1 g as its width is somewhat largerthan the internal width of wall 1 g.

FIG. 1A illustrates pedestal 3 b which is fixedly mounted ontostructural members of the frame 3 c of aircraft 5.

Pedestal 3 b is rectangular in shape with a length larger than its widthand extending along opening 3 of fuselage 4 of aircraft 5 and itsdimensions are somewhat smaller than those of opening 1 e.

When cabin 1 is inserted and mounted in place inside opening 3, pedestal3 b will forcefully be inserted in its place at the same time passingthrough through opening 1 e of floor 1 f of cabin 1 as illustrated inFIG. 1D and coming into matching contact with the internal surfaces ofwall 1 g. Pedestal 3 b bears on its upper portion 3 d the engine controlstick, throttle lever, mixture lever, pitch lever, fuel control and fuelcontents gauge, longitudinal balance wheel and other instruments whichare being connected via wire ropes and cables to corresponding parts ofthe engine and propeller for the piloting of the aircraft. In this way,in emergency situations during the upright detachment of cabin 1, asshown in FIG. 1A, through opening 3 of fuselage 4, pedestal 3 b whichalso moves upright in a downward direction along with attached fuselage4, simultaneously slides and becomes detached from cabin 1 throughopening 1 e, while it automatically releases lid 1 h which thereby sealswall 1 g of opening 1 e.

As shown in FIG. 2A the detachable separate control stick system 1 kconsists of two separate parts, an upper bar 1 m and a lower bar 1 m′connected through false linkage, also shown in FIGS. 2B, 2C.

Upper bar 1 m is the one that always remains in the cockpit of cabin 1and with its end 1 n it penetrates opening 1 o of the floor 1 f (FIGS.1A, 1B, 1E) while its lower end 1 m is internally hollow like a tube.Lower bar 1 m′ is fixedly connected to structural members 3 e offuselage 4 and transmits the movements of the upper bar to thecorresponding rudders of aircraft 5 (FIGS. 1B, 1E, 2C).

In FIG. 2C are illustrated in sectional view the matching end portions 1n′, 1 n of the lower and upper bars 1 m′ and 1 m respectively.

The configuration of abovementioned end portions 1 n and 1 n′ is such asto enable transmission in all directions of the movements of upper bar 1m to lower bar 1 m′.

This is achieved in FIG. 2B with the configuration of ends 1 n and 1 n′in the form of a splined construction so that all movementsforward-backwards-sideways are transmitted precisely from upper bar 1 mto the attached lower bar 1 m′ and successively through wire ropes tothe rudders of the aircraft. The splined construction achieves theinsertion of the spline-like projections of the end of one bar to thecorresponding slots of the end of the other bar.

During the detachment of upper bar 1 m it will be held to place bysafety pin 1 j so that it will not be able to penetrate slot 1 o butinstead it will move vertically along with detachable cabin 1 and slideout of lower bar 1 m′ which is attached to it (FIG. 1E). Slot 1 o asillustrated to FIGS. 1A, 1B, 1E will be provided with an elevatedprotective wall 1 o′ for the purpose of protecting from the intrusion ofwater, and here the aforementioned safety reasons for opening 1 e whenpedestal 3 b is detached also apply.

FIGS. 3A, 3B show the attachment of the upper crank 1 p of the separablecrankshaft system to pedals 1 r of floor 1 f of cabin 1. In FIG. 3Apedals 1 r are connected respectively to push-pull bars 1 r′ andtransmit movement to the upper crank 1 p which functions like a torquearm and transmits movement through a push-pull bar and wire ropes to thevertical rudder of the tail plane of aircraft 5.

In FIG. 3B bisectional crankshaft system 1 p consists of two separateparts, an upper crank 1 q and a lower crank 1 q′ connected with falselinkage and thus they interact. Upper crank 1 q is the one that isfixedly mounted in cabin 1 whereas its tubular portion 1 s penetratesslot 1 x in the floor 1 f of cabin 1. End 1 s is internally hollow likea tube. Lower crank 1 q′ is connected to the push-pull bar which holdsit in place in a fuselage 4 and transmits movements from upper crank 1 qto the rudder of aircraft 5.

In FIG. 3A, upper crank 1 q has penetrated with its hollow end 1 s therespective end 1 s′ of lower crank 1 q′, the separable crankshaft systembeing thereby assembled.

In FIG. 3B the two parts 1 q and 1 q′ of separable crankshaft system 1 pare illustrated disassembled where the configuration of penetrating ends1 s and 1 s′ is such that allows the transmission of movement to theleft-right from upper crank 1 q to the interactive lower crank 1 q′.This is achieved, as shown in FIG. 3B, with the configuration of ends 1s and 1 s′ in the form of splined construction so as to transmitmovement precisely and also to enable their detachment and their abilityto be brought in sliding interaction. This splined construction achievesthe insertion of spline-shaped projections of the end of one crank tothe respective sockets of the end of the other crank. During thevertical separation of upper crank 1 q, it will be held to place in thecabin by push-pull bars 1 r′ which are connected to it and thus it willmove vertically along with cabin 1 while the connected ends 1 s and 1 s′slide one away from the other and hence upper crank 1 q is detached fromlower crank 1 q′. Also, for safety reasons there will be an elevatedprotective inner wall 1 x′ to prevent water influx as the sameconditions described hereinabove for pedestal 3 b and bar 1 k apply.

As shown in FIGS. 1A, 4A, 4B, 4C, the system of upright sliding barscomprises a pair of bars 1 v, 1 v′ onto cabin 1 and a pair of bars 1 t,1 t′ onto fuselage 4 for the facilitation of the rapid verticaldetachment of cabin 1 from the fuselage 4. Thus FIG. 4A shows twovertically oriented U shaped metal section bars of the system ofvertical sliding bars.

Upright sliding bar 1 t is smaller in dimensions than the other uprightsliding bar 1 v so that one bar penetrates the other and they slide, asshown in FIG. 4B.

In FIGS. 1A, 4C, upright sliding bar 1 v is fixedly attached onto thefront external surface of cockpit 11 of cabin 1, while bar 1 v′ isfixedly attached onto the respective rear surface of cabin 1.

In FIG. 1A, upright sliding bar 1 t is fixedly attached on the fuselageand, more precisely, inside opening 3 at the front point 3 f, while atthe respective rear point 3 f upright sliding bar 1 t′ is fixedlyattached.

In this way, when cabin 1 is inserted in opening 3 and comes intomatching contact with it, upright sliding bars 1 v, 1 v′ of cabin 1slide into the respective upright sliding bars 1 t, 1 t′ of opening 3.

Thus, the vertical sliding combination of cabin 1 is created with atleast 3, or more, alignment points comprising upright sliding bars 1 v,1 v′ while center pedestal 3 b lies between them, contributing to thealignment of cabin 1 for its rapid escape during its upright, verticaldetachment while being assisted by the respective upright sliding bars 1t and 1 t′ at the front 3 f and rear 3 r points of opening 3 of fuselage4 of aircraft 5.

It must be mentioned that the description of this invention was madewith reference to illustrative embodiments to which it is notrestricted.

Hence, any change or amendment in the embodiment described hereinabove,as long as they do not comprise a new inventive step, are consideredpart of the scope and aims of the herein described invention, asspecified in the Claims attached herein.

1. An aircraft with a detachable passenger escape cabin, comprising: i. an opening in the fuselage of said aircraft, ii. a cockpit inside said cabin, iii. a first through opening inside said cockpit of said cabin, between a pilot seat and a co-pilot seat of said aircraft, iv. said first through opening extending longitudinally across a cabin floor, with a configuration that includes an elevated wall extending circumferentially around said first through opening, v. a center pedestal fixedly mounted to a structural frame of said aircraft inside said opening in the fuselage of said aircraft, vi. said center pedestal bearing on the external upper portion; an engine control throttle, mixture and pitch levers, a fuel control, a fuel contents gauge and longitudinal balance wheel, vii. said engine control throttle, mixture and pitch levers, fuel control, fuel contents gauge and longitudinal balance wheel being connected via wires to respective elements for the piloting of said aircraft, vii. said center pedestal being capable to move vertically downwards together with the aircraft fuselage, sliding, inside said elevated wall and out through the lower part of said first through opening of said floor of said cabin in emergency conditions, ix. a lid attached longitudinally across said elevated wall internally on the top of said elevated wall, x. said lid being rotatable and under the strain of springs between two configurations: (1) in normal conditions, said lid seals the internal portion of said wall of said through opening while said center pedestal penetrates the lower external portion of said first through opening vertically and extends longitudinally across and inside said through opening while being in matching contact with said elevated wall circumferentially, with one side of said center pedestal in matching contact with said lid which is positioned at a downward angle while at the same time under the strain of said springs; (2) in emergency conditions, at the same time that said center pedestal moves vertically downwards together with the aircraft fuselage, said lid rotates, under the strain of said springs, upwards and seals the upper portion of said elevated wall internally, and xi. said cabin and the fuselage of said aircraft consisting of the following: (a) a detachable control stick system, consisting of an upper bar that always remains in the cockpit of said cabin, said upper bar connected to a lower bar through a second through opening in the cabin floor, (b) a separable crankshaft system for the detachment of pedals, consisting of an upper crank mounted in said cabin, said upper crank connected to a lower crank through a third opening in the cabin floor, and (c) a system of upright sliding bars between said cabin and said fuselage of said aircraft, aligned vertically, with the first sliding bars attached to said cabin, having corresponding second sliding bars attached to said fuselage of said aircraft, first and second sliding bars being engaged in contact restricting relative motion in all directions except the vertical in normal conditions.
 2. An aircraft with a detachable passenger escape cabin as claimed in above claim 1, said upper bar of said detachable control stick system extending at an internally hollow tubular end with splined configuration, a safety pin laterally extending across said hollow tubular end above said splined configuration of said upper bar and said lower bar of said detachable control stick system extending at an externally splined end, wherein in normal conditions said upper bar is fixedly connected to said lower bar through engagement of said internally hollow tubular end with splined configuration of said upper bar with said externally splined end of said lower bar, whilst in emergency conditions said externally splined end of said lower bar moves upright and vertically downwards together with said fuselage through said second through opening in the cabin floor whereas said safety pin prevents said upper bar from passing through said second through opening thereby keeping said upper bar within the cockpit of said cabin, said second through opening having a configuration that includes an elevated wall extending circumferentially around said second through opening.
 3. An aircraft with a detachable passenger escape cabin as claimed in above claim 1, said upper crank of said separable crankshaft system comprising a pair of push-pull bars connected to the pedals and extending at an internally hollow tubular end with splined configuration, said tubular end penetrating said third opening in the cabin floor and said lower crank of said separable crankshaft system extending at an externally splined end, wherein in normal conditions said upper crank is fixedly connected to said lower crank through engagement of said internally hollow tubular end with splined configuration of said upper crank with said externally splined end of said lower crank, whilst in emergency conditions said externally splined end of said lower crank moves upright and vertically downwards together with said fuselage through said third opening in the cabin floor whereas said pair of push-pull bars prevents said upper crank from passing through said third opening thereby keeping said upper crank within the cockpit of said cabin, said third opening having a configuration that includes an elevated wall extending circumferentially around said third opening.
 4. An aircraft with a detachable passenger escape cabin as claimed in above claim 1, wherein in said system of upright sliding bars between said cabin and said fuselage of said aircraft said first sliding bars attached to said cabin and said second sliding bars attached to said fuselage are U shaped metal sections with the width of said first sliding bars being larger than that of said second sliding bars enabling insertion and sliding of said second sliding bars into said first sliding bars, said first sliding bars being vertically oriented and fixedly mounted onto the external front and rear portion of said cabin and said second sliding bars being vertically oriented and fixedly mounted at respective positions onto the external front and rear portion of said fuselage, wherein as soon as emergency conditions arise said second sliding bars move out of said first sliding bars guiding said fuselage to move upright and vertically downwards, in alignment with said cabin being detached thereof. 